


Blue-Striped Pillow

by theonewhohums



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 00:18:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8689234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonewhohums/pseuds/theonewhohums
Summary: When Maka sees the blue stripes of Soul's pillow as he walks towards her room, she knows it's going to be one of those kinds of nights.





	

It's become something of a routine for them now.

As Maka stands in the doorway of the bathroom running her fingers through her hair after taking out her pigtails, she can see her partner trudge groggily through the hallway. It's only ten thirty, but today was a long and tiring mission, and both of them are exhausted. She pauses her ministrations when she catches a glimpse of the blue stripes of Soul's pillowcase in the reflection of the mirror.

So it's going to be one of those kinds of nights.

* * *

It had started a long time ago.

They had gone on a mission that wasn't supposed to be particularly challenging. One recently turned kishin egg was terrorizing a school in a small town in Montana. The kid couldn't have been older than fifteen. It would have been an easy in-and-out kind of assignment if the kid didn't have a gun. While Maka and Soul were able to defeat him before he was able to hurt anyone in his school, Maka had just barely escaped with her life. The boy was a good shot and Maka almost wasn't fast enough.

It wasn't like they hadn't had close calls before. But something about that mission had shaken both of them up more than usual. That night Maka had woken in up drenched in a cold sweat and clutching at her abdomen, right at the spot where a bullet had torn through her body in her nightmare. Before Maka even had a chance to sit up, Soul was racing into her room, arm already transformed into a blade and ready to defend her.

"What is it? What happened? I had a dream that you got hurt and then I woke up and your wavelength was a mess and—"

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare," she said shakily. "I'm fine; you can go back to bed."

Her room lit up for a moment as Soul's blade transformed back into flesh and bone. He stepped into her room to get a better look at her. "You're sure?"

She closed her eyes and pressed her face into the palms of your hands. "Yeah," she muttered into her hands. "I'm okay. Guess I was just still shaken up from today."

Instead of leaving, Soul came over and sat down at the foot of her bed, pulling his knees up to rest his chin on them. Wrapping one hand loosely around his pajama-clad legs while the other picked at Maka's comforter, the boy muttered, "Me too."

Maka sat up a little straighter and let her hands drop to her sides. She wasn't the only still frightened from today? Playing back Soul's words from earlier, Soul had said he had a dream about her getting hurt. Did that mean he got nightmares from missions like that too? She considered asking him, but Soul was already interrupting her thoughts.

"Close calls like that aren't cool," he murmured, tired eyes never leaving her comforter. "Makes it hard to sleep sometimes. I can't stop thinking about what could've happened if—" his hand curled into a fist around the blanket, "—if things happened differently."

Soul's words affected Maka more than he knew. Despite the fact that _he_ was the one who came into comfort _her_ , Maka had the undeniable urge to ease her weapon's mind. She wanted to sleep soundly just as much as she wanted her partner to.

Soul looked up when Maka's hand covered his. "I know what you mean. It's scary to think about all the what-ifs." Her eyes softened a little. "But as long as we keep protecting each other, none of those possibilities have to become reality, right?"

Soul's lips upturned into a small smile. "Right."

A small length of silence past between them. "Hey Soul?"

"Mm?"

Maka's hand pulled back to rub the back of her neck nervously. She looked away from her partner to hide how heated her face was becoming. "Would you want to sleep in here tonight?"

Her averted gaze didn't see the way Soul's eyes widened at her question, or the way his Adam's apple bobbed as he visibly gulped. But despite Soul's reservations, something about the idea of sleeping in the same bed as his meister was as enticing as it was terrifying. And it was a much better option than sleeping alone.

"Sure."

Maka was almost too surprised by Soul's answer to see him crawling towards her end of the bed. Belatedly, she scooted over towards the wall to make room for her partner.

As he settled under the covers to lay stiffly beside her, Maka surprised him by rolling over to glare at him. "But know this, Soul Eater: if you try to steal my covers from me in the middle of the night, I swear to Death you will find yourself on the floor with a book indented in your skull."

The tension left his body at her words, which sounded so normal and typically Maka that he wondered why he was nervous at all.

He rolled over with a snort. "As long as you promise not to kick me."

Within minutes, the tired partners were both fast asleep, and thankfully neither of them had any more nightmares for the remainder of the night. After that night, it becomes somewhat of a routine for the two of them: after particularly difficult missions, Soul would grab his pillow and head over to Maka's room without a word. The warmth of each other's presence staved off more nightmares than either could count, and on the occasion that either woke in a panic, the other was always there as reassurance and comfort.

* * *

Maka finishes up her bathroom routine quietly, combing her hair and brushing her teeth. Once she's done, she pads down the hallway and pushes her door open slowly. Soul's light snores can already be heard from her bed. Maka sighs. It's impossible to wake him up after he's asleep.

Maka walks over to her bed and looks at her partner in a huff. His drool is already covering the blue-striped pillow he brought with him into her bed.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?" she whispers to his sleeping frame.

Putting her hand on his shoulder for balance, Maka gingerly climbs over her partner's sleeping body to reclaim her side of the bed closest to the wall. Soul doesn't stir the entire time it takes her to step over his body and slide underneath the sheets, but as she begins to close her eyes she feels a deliberate tug on her blankets.

She responds with a good-natured kick.

**Author's Note:**

> (Originally published 4/28/14)


End file.
